Governance And Democracy In The Asia Pacific

This book explores the theoretical and empirical relationship between democracy and governance in the Asia-Pacific region. Examining a variety of country cases and themes addressing the theoretical tension between governance and democracy, it illuminates how this impacts political and civil societies across the region. Analysing the character, structure and current trajectories of polities in the Asia-Pacific, democratic or otherwise, this book demonstrates that the role of civil society, political society and governance has significantly differed in practice from what has been commonly assumed within the international community. The book includes both theoretical investigations tracing the modern development of the concepts of governance, development and democratization as well as regional and country-specific observations of major issues, presenting comprehensive country-level studies of China, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Presenting fascinating insight into non-democratic governance, civil society and the rule of law in illiberal contexts, Governance and Democracy in the Asia-Pacific will prove to be of great use to students and scholars of Asian politics and society, as well as international and comparative politics.

]IGovernance in the Asia-Pacific is a student-friendly textbook which examines the governance of nation states in this diverse and rapidly-changing region. It sets out the range of political beliefs and styles that flourish and the similarities and differences between individual states and the ways in which they choose to govern. Wide-ranging in scope and clearly written to help students get to the bottom of important issues, the book addresses many key areas including: * the Anglo-American powers * Japan * independence movements * the politics of economic development * social movements * the politics of the environment * the pressures for political change in the region. And these issues are all analysed within the broad context of governance in the Asia-Pacific more generally. The authors also identify factors which explain the political underpinning of the dramatic economic development in the region.

Democracy in Southeast Asia seems to be in crisis. The contributors to this volume argue that this is a crisis of democratic governance. They look into its causes, consequences and prospects, comparing themes of democratic governance in Southeast Asia such as political culture, civil society, political parties and institutions and human rights

The seminar for which the papers in this publication were prepared was the first in a series of workshops intended to link senior public policy researchers from around the Pacific Rim in order to open up channels of communication through which researchers from Asia Pacific nations can exchange views on problems and reforms in the area of governance and public sector management. Paper titles include: The Changing Shape of Government in the Asia-Pacific Region; Korean Politics in a Period of Transition; The Unfinished Political Reforms of the Hong Kong Government; Demi-democracy: Thai Politics and Government in Transition; Government and Governance in Multi-Racial Malaysia; Controlled Democracy, Political Stability and PAP Predominance: Government in Singapore; Entrenched "Strong Man" Rule: The Governmental System in Bangladesh; Australian National Government, 1987; Toward More Effective Government in the US; and, Some Issues of Governance in Canada.

This book examines what citizens think about governance and democracy and the actual practices of governments in Asia, one of the most dynamic and divergent regions of the world. Using public opinion surveys and other evidence, the authors investigate such topics as government perception, human rights, democracy, and political development for a total of seven countries located in East, Southeast, and South Asia-China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Governance and Democracy in Asia contains detailed country studies, extensive cross-country comparisons, and a wealth of new data. It will appeal to scholars and students of Asian politics, public opinion, political development, and democratization.

This book introduces readers to the deep political tensions in the Asia-Pacific and offers classroom simulations designed to encourage students to delve deeper into the issues and dynamics of the region.

This new collection of essays compares the development of central institutions of governance in the emerging democracies of East and South East Asia. Seven key countries are covered: Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Save for Singapore and Malaysia, all have democratized over the past decade. Because of its constitutive implications for citizen identities, democratization is arguably of even greater potential significance than the economic take-off that preceded it. But there are distinctive features that give the experience of these seven states especial relevance. First, unlike analogous western patterns, democratic transitions in Asia have been top-down in character. Second, the implementation of basic democratic forms was highly compressed in time. Third there were (and are), in most countries, no major ideological or programmatic cleavages. Thus the bases around which contending political forces might organize are not immediately clear. This may affect the outlook for partisanship and mobilization. There has been no synoptic, comparative study of these developments on a region-wide scale. This book fills the gap extremely well.